LATEST THINKING

Evolution to the global device

Overview

The mobile phone market has always been focused on innovation-driven rapid change and ongoing efforts to reduce costs.

It’s still that way today. The landscape continues to evolve, with many factors converging to redefine what it takes for OEMs to be competitive. The acceleration of 4G network coverage, greater smartphone availability and affordability, and changing channel dynamics are having the biggest impact. To continue their growth, OEMs need to develop global device solutions that enable access to mature and developing markets, support connectivity to all network generations and frequency bands, and provide compelling features in a price-competitive package.

Key Findings

Three factors are having a massive impact on mobile phone OEMs’ growth prospects:

Acceleration of 4G network coverage: The number of 4G LTE connections across 151 countries doubled between 2014 and 2015, to more than 1 billion. As a result, OEMs must deal with ever-greater network complexity that will continue to grow with the proliferation of the Internet of Things.

Greater smartphone availability and affordability: OEMs will ship an estimated 1.7 billion 4G smartphones in 2020, much of which will be comprised of midrange phones for consumers in developing markets. A strong base across the midrange market therefore will be key to OEMs’ growth.

Changing channel dynamics: Customers are buying more phones from the open channel and will continue to do so, while carriers are shifting sales strategies away from subsidies to leasing and installment plans. OEMs thus will need to boost their phones’ longevity and residual value to remain attractive.

Select your location

We were unable to find a match for "$searchstring." Try searching again by using different or more general keywords and check for spelling errors.

RECOMMENDED CONTENT

FILTER RESULTS

FILTER RESULTS

Connect with our Talent Community

Personalize your Accenture Career search and receive tailored news, insights and job alerts. Join our Talent Connection to learn more about the challenging and rewarding career opportunities offered by Accenture.